Dyeing of textile materials



, cohols or their derivatives.

Patented Sept. 19, 1933 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE DYEING OF TEXTILE MATERIALS William Whitehead, Cumberland, Md., assignor to Celanese Corporation of America, a corporation of Delaware 14 Claims.

.This invention relates to the dyeing, printing, 'stencilling or otherwise coloring of textile materials such as yarn, bristles, films, fabrics, etc.

An object of this invention is to provide a 5 method of dyeing or otherwise coloring textile materials such as yarns, bristles, fabrics, films, etc. and relates more particularly to the dyeing of such material'by means of a substance containing a solution-:of dyestuffs in polyhydric al- Other objects of my invention will appear from the following detailed description.

In accordance with my invention, I dye or otherwise color textile materials of any suitable 15 nature by applying thereto a substance containing a solution of an appropriate dyestufl. in an organic solvent comprising polyhydric alcohols or their derivatives.

The textile material to be treated may be in the form of yarn or bristles contained in any suitable package such as in hanks or on bobbins. This invention also includes the coloring or fabrics or films in any suitable manner. The yarns, bristles or fabrics that are to be dyed or colored in accordance with my invention may be made of materials of any nature. While this invention may be applied to the dyeing or other-- wise coloring of yarns or fabrics made of fibres such as silk, wool, cotton, reconstituted cellulose (rayon) flax, etc., it is particularly advantageous when applied to the dyeing of yarns, bristles, fabrics oi films containing organic derivatives of cellulose, such as organic, esters of cellulose and cellulose ethers. Examples of organic esters of cellulose are cellulose acetate, cellulose formate, cellulose propionate and cellulose butyrate; while examples of cellulose ethers are methyl cellulose, ethyl cellulose and benzyl cellulose. The yarns or fabrics to be treated may consist of only one of the above named materials, or they may be composite or mixed yarns or fabrics containing two or more of the above named substances.

Any suitable polyhydric alcohol or derivative r thereof that is a solvent for the dyestuif to be applied may be used. Examples of polyhydric alcohols are: glycerol, diglycerol, ethylene glycol, diethylene glycol, propylene glycol, etc. Instead of the alcohols certain esters thereof may be used such as the acetyl esters of glycerol or of the .glycols. Likewise ethers of these polyhydric alcohols may be used such as the mono-di or trimethyl, ethyl or propyl ethers of glycerol or the monoor di-methyl, ethyl or propyl ethers of ethylene glycol or diethylene glycol. The term p yhydric alcohols and their esters and ethers employed. The amount of lolutlon of the dyeas used in the claims embraces the above and similar compounds.

Since many of the polyhydric alcohols and their ethers are hydroscopic, I prefer to add suflicient water to the fiuid containing the solution of the dyestuif in the hydroscopic polyhydric alcohols, to bring the aqueous concentration to at least that of the maximum amount of water these alcohols or ethers tend to absorb from the atmosphere, in order to prevent change of volume, viscosity and concentration of the dyeing fluid. Thus glycerol absorbs water to the extent of about 33% of its original weight from the air, ethylene glycol absorbs 3% to 4% and diethylene glycol 30% of water; and therefore, when either of these liquids are used, I prefer to add water in amounts corresponding to the respective percentages set forth. I have found that the presence of these amounts of water does not appreciably influence the solubility of the dyestulf in these organic solvents, nor does it interfere with the uniformity of dyeing despite the fact that the dyestuffs that I prefer to use are insoluble in water.

The dyestuffs to be employed in the dyeing liquid may be any suitable dye for the particular type of yarn, fabric or film to be colored. Since many advantages are obtained by the use of this process in conjunction with the dyeing of yarns made of cellulose acetate, this invention will be more specifically described with respect to the dyeing of such yarns.

The dyestuffs most suitable for the dyeing of celluloseacetate yarns, fabrics or films are colored bodies that are relatively insoluble in water and which, therefore, must be applied in some special solubilized form. A large number of such dyes are known as SRA dyes of which the following may be mentioned: dinitro-diphenyl-amine (yellow) and dimethyl amino anthraquinone (blue). However, dyes that are soluble in water but which are also soluble in the polyhydric alcohols or their derivatives such as .rosaniline hydrochloride (red), Color Index No. 677, cresyl blue, Color Index No. 877, and auramine (yellow) Color Index No. 655, may be used. The amount of dyestuff will vary with the nature of the dyestuffs and the depth of color required. The concentra tion of the dyestuif in its solution in the polyhydric alcohols or their derivatives is quite variable and may vary from 0.1% to 5.0% of the 'solvent employed and may even be used in con-' .centrations up to the limit of its solubility in the specific polyhydric alcohols and its derivatives suitable manner to the yarn, films or fabrics.

Thus it may be applied in the form of a dye bath to the material to be colored by padding, on the winch, or on the jig. Likewise it may be applied by spraying the same on to thefabric to be colored, either over the whole surface to obtain a uniform color or on to selected surfaces to obtain differential colored effects. Likewise it may be applied by brushing and spraying onto stencils to obtain colored patterns. The term dyeing as used in the claims is intended to cover all these methods of applying the dyestuff.

When polyhydric alcohols or their derivatives that are soluble in water are used as a solvent, they are conveniently applied in the form of a paste. This paste may be made by the use of suitable thickening agents such as starch, gum arabic, gum tragacanth, etc. as is well understood in the printing art, and may be applied in any appropriate manner by means of embossed or engraved rollers or plates. Examples of polyhydric alcohols or their derivatives that are soluble in water are the glycols and the mono ethers of such glycols.

In order further to illustrate my invention the following specific example is given.

Example The following is an example of a method of dyeing a fabric consisting wholly of cellulose acetate yarn.

A dyeing fluid is made up by dissolving one part by weight of methyl amino anthraquinone in 50 parts by weight of mono-ethyl ether of diethylene glycol. This solution is then padded onto the cellulose acetate fabric in a suitable padding device. The fabric is dyed a medium shade of blue, which is fast both to light and to scouring. The fabric may then be given any desired finishing treatment such as washing, scouring, etc. to remove the mono-ethyl ether of diethylene glycol. The dye is so fast that if uncolored fabric is put in the same washing bath as the dyed fabric, very little of the coloring matter passes to the white fabric. If it is desired to deluster the fabric, the washing or scouring may be done in hot water of a temperature of 75 C. or above or by means of any other delustering agency.

It is to be understood that the foregoing detailed description is given merely by way of illustration and that many variations may be made therein without departing from the spirit of this invention.

Having described my invention what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. Method of coloring textile materials containing organic derivatives of cellulose comprising applying thereto a solution of a dyestuff in mono ethyl ether of diethylene glycol.

2. Method of coloring textile materials containing cellulose acetate comprising applying thereto a solution of a dyestuff in mono ethyl ether of diethylene glycol.

3. Method of dyeing fabrics containing organic derivatives of cellulose comprising applying to said fabrics a solution of a dyestufl in mono ethyl ether of diethylene glycol.

4. Method of dyeing fabrics containing organic derivatives of cellulose comprising applying to said fabrics a solution of a dyestuff in mono ethyl ether of diethylene glycol.

5. Method of dyeing fabrics containing cellulose acetate comprising applying to said fabrics a solution of a dyestuff in mono ethyl ether of diethylene glycol.

6. Method of dyeing fabrics containing cellulose acetate comprising applying thereto a solution of methyl amino anthraquinone in mono ethyl ether of diethylene glycol.

7. Method of coloring textile materials containing organic derivatives of cellulose comprising applying thereto a solution of a dyestuif in a substance selected from the group consisting of organic esters and ethers of polyhydric alcohols.

8. Method of coloring textile materials containing cellulose acetate comprising applying thereto a solution of a dyestuif in a substance selected from the group consisting of organic esters and ethers of polyhydric alcohols.

9. Method of dyeing fabrics containing cellulose acetate comprising applying to said fabrics a solution of.a dyestuff in a substance selected from the group consisting of organic esters and ethers of polyhydric alcohols.

10. Method of dyeing fabrics containing organic derivatives of cellulose comprising applying to said fabrics a solution of a dyestufi' in a substance selected from the group consisting of organic esters and ethers of polyhydric alcohols.

11. Method of dyeing fabrics containing cellulose acetate comprising applying to said fabrics a solution of a dyestuif in a substance selected from the group consisting of organic esters and ethers of polyhydric alcohols.

12. Method of dyeing fabrics containing cellulose acetate comprising applying thereto a solution of methyl amino anthraquinone in a substance selected from the group consisting of organic esters and ethers of polyhydric alcohols.

13. Method of coloring textile materials containing organic derivatives of cellulose comprising applying thereto a solution of a water-insoluble dyestuff in a substance selected from the group consisting of organic esters and ethers of polyhydric alcohols.

14. Method of coloring textile materials containing cellulose acetate comprising applying thereto a solution of a water-insoluble dyestuff in a substance selected from the group consisting of organic esters and ethers of polyhydric alcohols.

WILLIAM WHITEHEAD. 

